Miss USA musical performers all drop out

BATON ROUGE - It appears only one celebrity remains as a judge or performer at the upcoming Miss USA pageant, hosted at the River Center.

The Associated Press reported Jessie James Decker, a country singer, was the only person still listed as a pageant judge on the Miss USA website. But, shortly before 4 p.m. Wednesday, the site listed Decker along with Alison Taub and Fred Nelson as judges. Taub is the entertainment manager for "Inside Edition" and Nelson is the executive producer of the People's Choice Awards. Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith and HGTV star Jonathan Scott were among the judges who backed out of the program following Donald Trump's comments about immigration.

Trump is an owner of the Miss USA pageant.

The event lost of all of its scheduled performers, too. Wednesday, the section of the website that once listed gusts like rapper Flo Rida, country singer Craig Wayne Boyd and pop singer Natalie La Rose, had "Coming Soon" posted on its page.

Show hosts have also left the event.

Pageant organizers are holding on to the pieces that are left, which is little else than the contestants and the host city and events after its two broadcast partners dropped the event as well. First, Univision said it was not going to broadcast the telecast and earlier this week NBC pulled the pageant from its schedule.

Money from Louisiana and Baton Rouge officials is also drying up. Wednesday, a spokesperson for the EBR Mayor-President's Office said they have not turned over a $100,000 incentives payout to Miss USA yet, even though it's due. VisitBR CEO Paul Arrigo said his organization is also holding off paying its $75,000 incentives package while attorneys meet with the Miss USA organization to discuss the situation.

Wednesday evening is also the first scheduled public appearance by the women participating in the contest.